Sea Plunder: Restored Classics to Go Edition

H. De Vere Stacpoole

Oct 2026 · Otbebookpublishing

Ebook

208

Pages

Eligible

About this ebook

In the wharves and waterfront shadows of San Francisco, Captain Blood waits restlessly for a berth, his hard-earned reputation making him too dangerous for ordinary shipping and too valuable to stay idle for long. The offer that finally reaches him through the shabby, quick-witted Billy Harman is handsome enough to tempt any man and vague enough to smell of trouble: a secret cable-ship venture, a mysterious employer, and money promised with unusual urgency. That employer proves to be the polished, unsettling Shiner, who scrutinizes Blood's credentials while disguising his own purpose behind talk of deep-sea work, strict discipline, and no alcohol. Blood sees through the evasions at once, but the lure of command leads him to Rafferty's Wharf, where the battered steamship Penguin waits like a relic with enough life left in her to sail. Rust, mildew, and cockroaches tell one story; functional machinery and expensive fittings tell another. Once aboard, Blood discovers a ship already full of hidden loyalties, secret authority, and a larger conspiracy than he expected. As the Penguin clears San Francisco Bay and heads for the Pacific, the voyage becomes a tense contest of wills, suspicion, and raw seamanship. Then war intervenes, turning profit into absurdity and danger into reality, until a German cruiser appears through storm and smoke to make the ship's true ordeal begin. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.

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About the author

H. De Vere Stacpoole, born Henry De Vere Stacpoole in 1863 in Ireland and later educated in England and Europe, lived a restless, wide-ranging life that fed directly into the vivid adventure fiction for which he became widely known. After early years shaped by travel, medicine, journalism, and seafaring interests, he turned to writing with remarkable productivity, producing a large body of novels, romances, and adventure stories that won him a devoted popular readership. His work is especially valued for its atmospheric settings, brisk storytelling, and fascination with the sea, isolation, survival, and the pull between civilization and freedom. Beneath the excitement of his plots lies a recurring interest in human resilience, moral testing, and the strange beauty of remote places, themes that still resonate with readers today in an age that continues to wrestle with nature, adventure, and the limits of ambition. Stacpoole's legacy rests on his ability to blend escapism with emotional immediacy, creating fiction that feels both thrilling and humane. He remains a rewarding author for readers who love classic adventure, maritime tales, and stories that combine action with a strong sense of place and a lingering emotional depth.

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